ClayB

Hi Myriam, That is a really neat looking notebook. The decorative cuts are a really nice touch and you did them very well! Thanks for taking the time to do the tutorial on this.

You've really been coming up with some neat stuff! I like how you did the aligator a lot. That Sheridan carving you did a while ago with the skulls was pretty neat too. I might have to steal that idea from you. Keep those pictures coming.

I'm glad you got brave enough to show your work. Those are both really nice pieces! I really like the buckstitching along with the sewing on the notebook. There is a lot of fun stuff going on with that purse. Your daughter had some great ideas and you pulled them together really nicely.

Seems like this topic comes up every so often. In my opinion, Bob Beard makes the nicest swivel knives I have tried, but I dont have one. I have never really figured that I NEEDED one, although I would like to have one someday. I get along fine with several Craftool ones and one of the heavy brass ones they came out with back in the 80's. But, in the last couple years, my index finger on my left hand (the one that I use to carve with) has started to have quite a bit of pain. The last couple weeks it's getting worse and I will probably have to get it checked out by a doctor soon. So Jim's post has me wondering if there really is a good reason to spend the money on a better quality swivel knife. And, is there a chance I can convince my insurance company that there is a medical reason I need one and they should pay for it??????????

You have nothing to be scared of Tina. Your work is original and fun and everyone loves it! People at the shows are just as nice as people here on the forum and they are going to like you and your projects. You will get some new ideas from seeing what other people are doing, and they will get lots of ideas from what you are doing. And best of all, you will get a chance to make some new friends and meet some of the people that you know from here.

Not only should you drag yourself to a leather show, you should enter your work. It would be a treat for all the people that attend to see the kind of work you do! There's one coming up soon too.

Tina, I have to agree with Tazz, everything you do looks great! I like how you tied in so many different things and made it all look good together.

Give Jeff Mosby a call at Grey Ghost Graphics. He's a great guy and can probably make you whatever you are interested in.

Thank you Freak. This really wasn't as hard as it looks, just time consuming doing all the feathers. You CAN do it! Leatheroo, I'd really love to be able to go to the Dimensions in Leather conference someday. I doubt I will make it in '09 but hopefully Cheryl and Peter will keep having these long enough that I can make it someday. I got to spend some time with them in Sheridan a few years ago and it was a lot of fun. As for all the rest of you, if I ever decide to go on a teaching tour, I'll let you all know. It sounds like a lot of fun too. Clay

Mike, I like it! The really weird thing is that my wife suggesed I do the very same thing, adding a bird to the floral carving and make something for my mom. The first bird pattern that came to mind was a humming bird that Yaklady had sent me awhile ago. I haven't carved it yet, but seeing yours tells me I need to. I really like how the bottom leaf and scroll hang off the piece, thats a neat touch. Clay

Helen, I think that shaping masks will be alot like doing the extreme embossed carving I like to do. When you do the shaping, you stretch the leather and do other things that will "rub out" your carved or stamped details. But once the shaping is finished, you should be able to dampen the leather again, put it over your face form, and work the details back in carefully. On embossed carvings, I will usually bevel and pear shade before shaping, then go back over these areas with the same tools once the shaping is finished. While the details have been rubbed out by the shaping, you can usually see where it was, and generally it is pretty easy to get them back in. You will need to experiment with this, but I think you should be able to get pretty good carved or stamed results on your masks by doing this. In areas like the long nose on your mask, you might need to put something inside there to hold it solid if you wanted to carve or stamp on that part. You can also cut details like feathering on your masks with a scalpel and hair blades like Ken mentioned and get fairly realistic looking feathers. Hope this gives you some ideas to try. Clay

Hi Jim, Hope you had a great birhtday. Since nobody here sings that great (that we have heard yet) I thought I'd pass on an e-card that Yaklady sent on my bday. I hope you aren't old enough that most of what they are singing is true, like it seemed to be in my case! bday card Clay

Hi Kevin, It sounds like all your problems can be from your leather being too wet. If you use the search here on the forum, you should find several threads about casing. There are a lot of ways to do it and you might want to try a few and pick what seems to work best for you. Different leather reacts differently, so if you get different leather, you might have to change your procedure. I like to wet my leather front and back (but not soak it) and then put it in a plastic bag for awhile to let the moisture even out throughout the leather. This can be a half an hour to overnight, depends on if you plan in advance or not. Then when you take it out of the plastic, let it start to return to its original color if it hasn't already. If it's darker than when it was dry, it's probably too wet. Trace your pattern with a stylus on the damp leather. Then cut with the swivel knife and start tooling. If your moisture is right, you will get "burnish" (leather turns dark when you stamp it). It will take some practice to know just when it is right. If you have to leave your project while working on it, cover it with plastic again to keep it from drying out. If it starts to dry out while carving, I like to add moisture with a spray bottle. On leather that dries out quickly, I will spray the back more often to keep the moisture level. If your leather is too wet, your stamping will be mushy and your cuts will close up. If your leather is too dry, it will be hard to carve and your stamping impressions wont be deep or sharp. If you dont get good impressions, another thing you might try is rubber cementing a piece of cardboard to the back of your leather (especially on thinner leather). This will keep your leather from stretching, and also tends to make your impressions deeper. There is a lot of good information on this forum so do some searching through the old posts if you have time. Hope this helps a little and good luck! Clay

Tina, I think this idea of YOURSis exactly what Leatherworker is supposed to be all about (education, fellowship, and friendship) Projects like this that encourage working with leather, sharing with others and maybe passing on some ideas are great and I am glad you thought of it and are getting it going. It was your generosity in sharing patterns for the monthly carving challenge that started this. You cant blame it all on me!!! Clay

tazzman* wildrose* Cecil Johanna SCOUTER Myriam Froghunter Kani Rayban Bob Regis Wood? Clay (M) Banwell Hoyden jammon ferret Beaverslayer CitizenKate ETW Grumpy broncobuster rdb Oscar B wolfenstien ShirleyZ ClayB $ Add me to the list too. Several of you already have stuff from me, but I'll be happy to send something else to someone.

Leathercat, That's a really neat project. The smile on the bag matches yours perfectly! You are doing some great stuff. Thanks for sharing it with us. Clay

Hey Kathy, I hope you have a REALLY GREAT day!!!!!!! So how many years in a row can you be 29???? This is what about 30 now??? It's ok, I wont tell anyone how old you really are

You should be able to use just about any kind of acrylic paint on leather. I like to water mine down quite a bit and put them on in layers to build up color. Using most of them striaght out of the bottle reminds me of house paint and thats not the look I like on leather. By thinning them down, you can still see the carving underneath and when done right, it can really add to a good carving.

Hey Ken, It's really nice to have you back! The carving detail on your piece is REALLY nice. It's going to be fun seeing the process you use to make this into a finished vest. Thanks for taking the time to do this for all of us here on the forum. Clay

Thank you Melody and Tom. I spent the better part of 3 days carving and coloring leaves to surround the bear, and hated that when I was done too, so the bear is back on the pile of unfinished things waiting for the next round of inspiration to come along. Bees have been suggested, but that's sounds like more of a challenge than I am looking for right now. Anne, no tutorial on the bear paws. I really had no idea what I was doing or how it was going to turn out, so I didn't take any pictures. I have some ideas for a picture that would have the 3D bear paws on it. If I ever get started on it, I'll try and take some picutres of how it goes, no promises though. Sometimes it's really hard to remember to stop and take pictures when things are going good.

You did a really nice job on that Leathercat. I'm sure your friend will like it and I bet it made your mom proud too. I hope you keep working with leather and share more pictures of what you come up with. You have a great teacher to learn from.

That's gonna be a really neat seat Shirley. Nice painting job on the seat and the nails I bet that seat is going to raise a lot of money. It's a great gesture on your part too.

Yes, that's exactly what I had in mind, right down to the leaf it's sitting on. She has a calendar page like that and she requested it sitting on a leaf. I would appreciate the drawing, even though I alread laced up her album without the pocket. I can use the frog on something else. Thank you! Clay

Really nice job Dave. I especially like all the detail you got into the ship. Can't wait to see what you are doing these days, hope there are more pictures to come.